RUGBY HANDBOOK Stewart’s Melville College 2017 / 2018 WELCOME

We extend a very warm welcome to all our new and returning players, parents and supporters.

The rugby group consisting of Stuart Edwards, Gregor Wood and myself are working hard along with the rest of the PE Department to implement new structures, working on lifting standards both on and off the field and recruiting more skilled coaches who can add to the rugby programme. The philosophy CONTENTS driving the programme is to provide a positive rugby experience for all levels of player ability supported by a strong development 1 Welcome structure that produces not only great rugby players but positive young men with strong character and values. We 2 Mission Statement, Objectives & Key Focus Areas continue to work closely with the Scottish ; aligning our programme to the new Technical Blueprint and leading the 3 Junior School Programme & Selection Policies way for Scottish schools rugby in this initiative.

4 Contacts Bruce Ruthven, Rugby Coordinator

5 Training Times and Inverleith Pitch Layout It is our collective aim that Stewart’s Melville College (SMC) is regarded as the leading school for rugby in . We are 6 Developing the Person blessed with large playing numbers and staff who are extremely passionate about the development of our individual players and 7 Specialist Rugby Coaches more importantly individual people. We are striving to create a culture where pupils, teachers and parents are proud to be part 8 Specialists Skills, Strength & Conditioning, Analysis of the SMC rugby programme. A culture where each individual is driven to be the best possible version of themselves. Every 9 Rugby Partnerships player’s development is equally important to our programme and through the use of specialist coaching, video analysis, strength 10 Player Welfare, Bursaries, PSL, Sports Website and conditioning and specialised skills workshops, we believe we create an enjoyable learning environment where pupils are 11 Stewart`s Melville Rugby Representatives challenged to improve and develop a resilient approach to their individual development and lifestyle. 12 Code of Conduct, FAQ`s, Key Season Dates and Rugby Camps Stuart Edwards, Head of Rugby

Rugby Handbook 2017/18 1 MISSION STATEMENT SMC JUNIOR SCHOOL RUGBY PROGRAMME

“To create a culture where pupils, teachers and parents are proud to be part of In the JS Rugby Programme we aim to: the SMC rugby programme. A culture where each individual is driven to be the best possible version of themselves.” • Create a culture where everyone is able to enjoy both training & playing. • Demonstrate the school values through our behaviour on & off the field. OUR OBJECTIVES • Create an environment where skills can be tested in appropriate competition. • Improve participation levels at the junior end of the school and drive overall performance. • Develop players who are all skilled runners, passers • To encourage players and teams to adopt a growth mind-set specifically around selection, failure, & tacklers. mistakes and fear to become more resilient individuals and collective units. • To create well rounded rugby players regardless of position who can handle the ball and Training is structured around a game sense approach understand attacking and defensive principles. where players are encouraged to be aware of their • Improve our coaching delivery by developing all of our school coaches’ knowledge. decision making processes.Our sessions create opportunities for players to take risks and then to help them reflect on and refine their choices. KEY FOCUS AREAS To achieve our aims we select our teams based on the We believe that all SMC players should possess certain qualities regardless of positions. We are coaches’ opinion of ability level to attempt to ensure really keen to break positional stereotypes and start this as early as possible through key focus that players have the opportunity in games to test their areas: skills against & with players of a similar standard. Mark Burgess, Head of Junior School Games 1. All players from 1-15 should be comfortable handling the ball. 2. All players should be comfortable with their role as the ‘A’ (attacker) in the ABCD system. 3. Players will be outstanding individual tacklers. SELECTION POLICIES 4. We want to attack from anywhere, quick taps as much as possible to create high tempo game and increase the speed of the game. The aim of selection is to be able to build a team 5. Every team should be physically fit. Our boys need to be conditioned in a way that allows us to environment where every pupil can compete well, play the high tempo, accurate game we desire. enjoy and participate in each grade they compete in. 6. All players will become confident individuals who are effective communicators on the pitch. Players will play in their year group, and any exceptions will need approval from the Head of Rugby as being in the best interest of the player (to consider safety, development and performance needs of the player).

Also taken into consideration is a combination of attendance, commitment and ability to work as part of a team and taking on coaches feedback and comments.

2 Rugby Handbook 2017/18 3 CONTACT DETAILS TRAINING SCHEDULES

SENIOR SCHOOL TRAINING TIMES POSITION NAME E-MAIL CONTACT

Head of Rugby Stuart Edwards [email protected] 2017/18 Training Monday2pm-4pm Tuesday 3:15pm-5pmThursday

Rugby Coordinator Bruce Ruthven [email protected] 1st XV 4.30pmMonday – 5.30pm 3.15pm – 5pmTuesday & Thursday3.15pm – 5.30pm

Head of P.E Bryn Lockie [email protected] 2nd/3rd XV Tuesday 3.15pm – 5pmThursday 3.15pm – 5pm

Senior XVs Lead Jimmy Moran [email protected] U16s Squads Tuesday 3.15pm – 5pmThursday 3.15pm – 5pm

U16s Lead Hayden Lingard [email protected] S3B1,B2,B2,B4 (B Squads) Tuesday 3.15pm – 5pmThursday 3.15pm – 5pm

B1s Lead Gregor Wood [email protected] S2C1,C2,C3,C4 (C Squads) Monday2.15pm – 3.45pm Thursday 3.15pm – 5pm

C1s Lead Stuart Edwards [email protected] S1D1,D2,D3,D4 (D Squads) Monday2.15pm – 3.45pm Thursday 3.15pm – 5pm

D1s Lead David Roxburgh [email protected] JUNIOR SCHOOL TRAINING TIMES Junior School Rugby Mark Burgess [email protected] 2017/18 Training Day Time

JA1, JA2, JA3 Wednesday 2.15pm – 3.30pm Director of Rugby at SMRFC Bryan Easson [email protected] JB1, JB2, JB3, JB4 Thursday 2.00pm – 3.15pm Head Coach at SMRFC Gordon Henderson [email protected] JC1, JC2, JC3 Friday 2.00pm – 3.30pm Manager at SMRFC Graham Inglis [email protected] Saturday 9.00am – 10.00am

Stew Mel Academy Manager Ross McNulty [email protected]

Stew Mel Lions Chairman Alastair Geddes [email protected]

Coach Education Bruce Ruthven [email protected]

Stewart’s Melville College & Stewart’s Melville RFC Rugby Grounds 523 Ferry Road, Inverleith,

4 Rugby Handbook 2017/18 5 ‘DEVELOPING THE PERSON IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE PLAYER’ SPECIALIST RUGBY COACHES

Rugby, like many sports, encourages young people to be physically active, with obvious health benefits. Winning cups, conferences and big school matches is fantastic. However, at Stewart’s Melville College, we believe that it is the sometimes unseen development that is of the greatest importance.

Rugby is a sport that presents a great deal of different challenges and the amount of hard work and dedication required to be successful at any level should not be taken for granted. It plays a huge part in the development of the person, establishing a character that will make our pupils a success in many different areas of their life. Pupils need to work together in a team, learn and understand each other’s strengths, while working collectively to cover for areas of weakness.

Dealing with the challenges posed by the opposition and problem solving go a long way to promoting improved confidence and self-esteem. Learning to listen to others, whether it be your coach or other players, means you are open to new ideas and improves your attitude to learning. Having responsibility as a captain, or as a part of a team unit, provides opportunity to lead others and take on added responsibility. Learning to win and lose in the correct manner whilst managing emotions under pressure gives pupils the chance to develop coping mechanisms that can transfer directly to everyday life. Understanding that we often learn more about ourselves when we lose and allowing for periods of self-reflection can turn perceived short term failure into longer term gain.

We strongly believe that our teams provide a great environment where pupils can practice and ingrain our school values. At Stewart’s Melville we believe rugby is a sport that helps create the people we want our pupils to become.

Jimmy Moran, 1st XV U18 Coach

The rugby programme will once again be boosted by additional coaches throughout the season which will act as both player development and coach education initiatives. Feedback from previous seasons has been extremely positive and we will continue to encourage links with the , Edinburgh Knights and to develop our programme.

We are extremely fortunate to have input from a variety of specialist coaches and professional players from both Edinburgh Knights and Glasgow Warriors such as Sean Kennedy, Grant Gilchrist, Adam Ashe and Grayson Hart to name a few. We have Neil Graham (Head of Coach Development for SRU) coaching our U16 forwards, Scott Riddell (Scotland 7s) working with our players on specialist breakdown work, MBE working on back play and specialist kicking skills with our players as well as specialist input from coaches such as Eddie Pollock, Ben Fisher and . The input these quality individuals bring to our programme invaluably enhances the learning of our rugby players and coaches.

6 Rugby Handbook 2017/18 7 SPECIALIST SKILLS CROSS PARTNERSHIP RELATIONS - STEW MEL LIONS

We offer a Specialist Skills programme that is accessible to all boys within the rugby programme. The ambition of the Lions is to be seen as one of the best Sessions run throughout the year and are geared towards developing and enhancing the open mini-rugby clubs in Edinburgh and to increase the fundamental skills of the game, as well as providing opportunities for boys to develop their number of boys and girls playing and enjoying rugby in position-specific and unit skills with a specialist coach. These sessions run primarily at lunchtimes. Scotland. We are very closely affiliated with Stewart’s Melville Players should liaise with PE staff regarding their specific session time/s. Senior Rugby Club and have strong links with Stewart’s Melville College. The club is open to all children, both girls and boys, from P1 to P7, whether they attend the school or not. STRENGTH & CONDITIONING We believe in fun, teamwork, respect, and learning life’s lessons along the way. Central to our approach is the fact that rugby is Pupils within the rugby programme receive the a late development sport, and as a result we do not “stream” opportunity from primary 6 upwards to participate our children but seek to give everyone an equal opportunity in sessions designed to educate them on training to participate in training and matches irrespective of their principles, performance behaviours in a gym stage of development. Around 250 children participate in the environment and Olympic lifting techniques. All Lions under the guidance of 55 coaches. sessions are appropriate to the players’ age and stage of development. We train and play our home tournaments at the Inverleith playing pitches on Ferry Road from 1.00pm to 2.00pm on Sundays, starting Sunday 27th August. If you are interested in getting involved with the Lions either as a parent or player VIDEO ANALYSIS, MYTPE & NACSPORT please see the contacts page in this handbook. We have invested in the best software and hardware to ensure our players and coaches get the STEW MEL ACADEMY most out of their analytical work. We are fortunate to use two SportsMast cameras which allow us to video from an aerial angle. Software wise, we have eleven Nacsport licences within the department that allows members of staff to analyse and tag games before being processed with The Academy acts as the youth section continuation MyTPE/TPA software which provides a user friendly platform for our players to view and analyse from the Lion’s mini section of the club providing a rugby their own and their teams’ performances. We are grateful to have Ciaran Beattie on board from programme to ensure each player receives a well-balanced the SRU who is involved in analysing weekly fixtures from Stewart’s Melville College to be used as season plan and carefully targeted support. Players are evidence of how we are implementing the work of the Scottish Rugby’s ‘Technical Blueprint’. developed and nurtured in a friendly environment with an emphasis on fun, growth and respect. Players who do not attend SMC are very welcome to join the Academy where over and above our regular core training sessions, the players receive Specialist Skills sessions and Performance workshops with top coaches/players such as Henry Edwards, Sean Lineen, Bryan Easson, , Grayson Hart, Adam Ashe, Scott Riddell and . The Academy also provides a challenging fixture list to supplement school games, including; Melrose, Currie, Madras, Stirling County, BATs, Glasgow Hawks, Boroughmuir and Ayr.

The Academy regularly ends the season with a tour, previously to and last season Aboyne for a weekend of 7s rugby with Deeside & Mackie and outdoor pursuits in conjunction with Horseback UK and the Marines.

8 Rugby Handbook 2017/18 9 FURTHER INFORMATION SMC RUGBY REPRESENTATIVES 2016-17

Please use a QR reader on your mobile device to obtain further information regarding the areas of the rugby programme listed below. National Representation 15s FP George Turner

Concussion The school’s concussion policy directly follows the National Representation 7s recommendations of World Rugby Concussion FP Scott Riddell Management.

Scotland U20 (Captain) FP Callum Hunter-Hill

Player Welfare Information regarding RugbyRight, Age Grade Law Scotland U19 Variations, Injury Management, Anti-Doping and Age SMRFC Banding. SMRFC Finn Hobbis

Scotland U18 Cameron Symes Bursaries Ross Thompson Up to date information regarding opportunities for Jacob Lineen Bursaries.

Scotland U16 SMC Sport Kit Supplier PSL Nathan Moffat All of the school’s sporting kit can be purchased directly Findlay MacNeill from our supplier. Addy Robertson

SMC Sport Website Up-to-date information including news, teams, fixtures and results.

10 Rugby Handbook 2017/18 11 Please use a QR reader on your mobile device to obtain further information regarding the areas of the rugby programme listed below.

CODE OF CONDUCT FAQS

SMC guidelines for Helpful advice and Players and information touchline. regarding the programme.

SEASON KEY DATES

Saturday 23rd September 2017 Stewart’s Melville Open Day W/c 12th March 2018 SMC 7s Programme Saturday 24th March (tbc) 2018 1st X V End of Season Dinner

STEWART’S MELVILLE RUGBY CAMPS

Monday 14th - Wednesday 16th August 2017 Pre-Season Camp Monday 16th - Thursday 19th October 2017 Camp Monday 12th - Friday 17th February 2018 Camp

12 Rugby Handbook 2017/18 13 Stewart’s Melville College Queensferry Road Edinburgh, EH4 3EZ www.esms.org.uk

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